Introduction – ACS ACR31 Swipe Card Reader User Manual
Page 3
ACR31 – Reference Manual
Version 1.00
www.acs.com.hk
Page 3 of 19
1.0. Introduction
The ACR31 Swipe Card Reader serves as an interface for the communication between a mobile
device and a magnetic stripe card. Different types of magnetic cards have different commands and
communication protocols, and the ACR31 establishes a uniform interface from the mobile device to
the magnetic card.
The ACR31 is connected to the mobile device through a 3.5-mm audio jack interface. Through this,
the ACR31 will read information from the magnetic cards through the decoder on the reader which will
be sent to the mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet. Furthermore, as a way to enhance
security, the card information is encrypted using the AES-128 encryption algorithm before it will be
sent to the backend server.
This document describes the hardware and software design of the ACR31 and the list of commands it
uses to communicate with the mobile device.